Generally, there are a number of situations in which visual identification of a person, vehicle or other entity may be important to maintain safety. For instance, emergency response vehicles rely on visual identification via light emitting devices, such as light bars, to ensure a safe right-of-way passage to their destination. Additionally, visual identification of persons as emergency responders, victims, or military operations personnel is often desired in various civilian emergency response and military operational contexts.
However, due to the very nature of both civilian emergency response and military operation environments, it may be difficult to locate and visually identify a person or entity that requires assistance. Typically, a person requiring assistance communicates information via a communication device, such as a mobile phone or a radio, to a responder. However, such communication devices do not provide visibility and visual identification of the person to response personnel, especially in the dark.
Furthermore, due to various unforeseen circumstances, military and paramilitary personnel, including undercover non-uniformed police, may find themselves under friendly fire, and therefore also need a way to visually identify their presence and association to other response units and bystanders. However, existing remotely operated light sources fail to provide the subject meant to be illuminated with control over the specifics of the illumination process, which precludes their use in covert operations and jeopardizes military and paramilitary personnel safety.